


Always Running

by niallisonfiya



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 16:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1310746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallisonfiya/pseuds/niallisonfiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A month ago Marla’s life was perfect. She was a recent college graduate with the world ahead of her, nothing could stop her from chasing every dream she had. Or so she thought, until she received that phone call. One phone call changed everything for her. </p><p>Or the one where Marla is a little broken and she runs away with her six year old sister and Niall might just be the one to save them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Running

Running. It’s what Marla did best.  Whenever times got hard she’d pack up a small backpack and run in the opposite direction. When she was younger the running would last a few hours but once when she was a teenager she camped out in her friend’s treehouse for a week just willing all the pain to go away. But now running was harder. Her six year old sister was holding her hand and afraid of what was going to happen when they stepped off the plane.

 A month ago Marla’s life was perfect. She was a recent college graduate with the world ahead of her, nothing could stop her from chasing every dream she had. Or so she thought, until she received that phone call. One phone call changed everything for her. The death of her parents was sudden and tragic and she had no idea how to deal with the pain. But Marla had more than herself to think of. She had to care for Elizabeth, little Libby, with her bright eyes and confusion. She had no idea that her parents were gone forever so she was handling everything quite well.

Marla tried so hard not to run; she wanted to stay in their childhood home to give Libby some type of normalcy but Libby wouldn’t have it. She was more intuitive than anyone should be at the age of six. Libby saw the light leaving Marla’s eyes more and more each day and she knew they only had each other now so they needed to do whatever it took to make this work. Libby begged Marla to take them on a vacation but there was no money for that. Marla had said they either stay home or they pack up their things and move.

That is how the pair found themselves in a small diner near the airport in London at 5am with all their bags sitting in the booth next to them. They were the only two in the restaurant besides a pair of young men who couldn’t be any older than Marla. But they were chatting loudly and paying Marla and Libby no mind. Which was best because she needed the time to think and make a plan for their new life in London.

Marla was searching through her phone for a place to stay when she heard the diner getting louder. It wasn’t until she looked up that she realized it was Libby that was talking loudly. She was usually so well behaved but the 9 hour flight with little to no sleep had worn both of them down. Marla put her attention back to the phone and hoped that Libby wasn’t bothering the rest of the patrons, she needed to focus on finding a cheap hotel to stay at for a few days.

Five minutes later Marla heard a crash. She looked up to see Libby’s plate of pancakes shattered all over the floor and there was anger in the little girl’s eyes before she started yelling.

“I wanted choco chips in my pancakes! I just wanted choco chips!”

Marla froze, panic stricken because she had never seen Libby act like this. She had never seen Libby raise her voice let alone yell at the top of her lungs. Marla could feel every eye (even though there was only a handful of people it felt like millions) on them. It only took her a second to get her footing. She reached across the old table and grabbed Libby’s shaking hands, looked her in the eyes and asked what was wrong. A minute of silence passed, no one in the restaurant was moving, but Libby finally met Marla’s glare and the anger was soon replaced by sadness. Her voice from a bombing yell to a quiet squeak.

“I just miss mommy and daddy.”

And as the words left her mouth the crying began. Her little body convulsed uncontrollably. The only thing Marla knew to do was jump across the booth and hold her as tight as possible. Words were spoken but either Libby didn’t hear or didn’t care because hers sobs continued. It took everything within Marla to keep it together because dammit, she missed her parents too but she had to be strong for the little girl in her arms. Time passed and the tears died down but Libby still clutched to the front of Marla’s shirt as if her life depended on it.

Libby had all of Marla’s attention that she didn’t even notice the blonde from the other table coming her way until he sat down across from them. He reached his hand across the table forcing Marla to remove hers from Libby’s side to shake it.

“Hi, I’m Niall.”

“I’m Marla and this is Libby.”

There was skepticism in every syllable she spoke and she had no idea what this man’s intentions were. Once his face broke out into a wide smile a few of her worries washed away because if that smile didn’t brighten up the room nothing would. She silently waited for Niall to continue because she still had the slightest clue what he wanted.

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You both seemed a little upset.”

She let out a sound that was in between a laugh and a sob before she moved one hand up to massage her temple.

“A little is an understatement for us.”

She saw a spark in his eyes and it wasn’t the look of pity she was used to receiving the past month. There was something different about him.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Marla wasn’t one to take help from a stranger so she avoided his question and asked one of her own.

“You don’t sound like you’re from around here. Where are you from?”

“I’m from Ireland but I’ve lived in London for seven years. What about you? You’re from the states, yeh?”

Marla was still rubbing small circles on Libby’s back to sooth her and she glanced down to make sure her little angel was ok. Once she looked back up at Niall his smile had only widened.

“Yep, me and Lib are from a small town in Ohio. Nothing too exciting there.”

“And what brings the two of you to London?”

Before Marla could properly respond Libby was stirring and asking for her glass of water. Once she was out of Marla’s grasp she really looked at Niall and the boy sitting a few booths behind him. Her eyes widened and she jumped up in the booth to get a better look. After Libby was sure her eyes weren’t failing her she started jumping up and down and grabbed Marla’s ear to whisper into it.

“Lala that’s Harry Styles!”

Marla peered over Niall’s shoulder and looked at the boy again. He had a headband on taming unruly curls and his eyes were fixated on his phone. Before Marla could even ask who he was Libby was jumping over her lap and running toward him. She started to stand up, ready to run after the girl but Niall just shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it, Harry loves kids. He even ordered chocolate chip pancakes so I’m sure him and Libby will get on just fine.”

Marla was more confused than ever. She didn’t have the patience to try and connect all of these dots right now.

“Who are you and why the hell does Libby know you?”

Niall laughed nervously and held out his hand again for Marla to shake.

“Let me start over. My names Niall Horan and that’s my mate Harry Styles. And we were in the once popular boyband One Direction.”

It was like everything clicked and Marla could finally relax in the uncomfortable booth once again.

“I know the songs but not the faces. Libby listens to your stuff all the time.”

There was a short beat of silence and Marla used it to look over at Libby. She was sitting in Harry’s lap chatting animatedly about something and Harry looked happy to bounce her on his knee so everything seemed alright. But Niall broke the silence with the same question from earlier.

“So Marla, what brings you to London?”

Marla started playing with the bracelet that was loosely around her wrist. Her mother used to wear it every day and now she had adopted the habit.

“We needed a new beginning.”

Niall stayed silent as if willing her to continue and after a deep breath she did.

“A month ago our parents were in a car accident. Libby’s my sister if you couldn’t tell. But anyway our parents didn’t make it and now it’s just me and Libby. We don’t have any other family, it had always just been the four of us and now we’re down to two. There were people that cared about us back at home but the look in their eyes just made me sick. They pitied us, felt sorry for us every moment and I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like I was suffocating in that small town and we had to get out. London was the first flight out of Cincinnati when we got to the airport. So here we are.”

During her speech Marla had kept her eyes on the bracelet. She was afraid of what she would see in Niall’s eyes when she looked up. But when she slowly looked up there was no pity in his eyes. He looked determined but still soft and welcoming. His thumb lightly rubbed against the back of her palm. Maybe it was an apology or a ‘stay strong’. Marla will never know because right when Niall opened his mouth to speak Harry plopped down next to him with a sleeping Libby in his lap. His smile was bright, seemingly forgetting the breakdown not too long ago, as he introduced himself.

“I’m Harry and you must be Lala.”

Niall smiled and gave her a questioning looked before she addressed Harry.

“Hi I’m Marla. Lala is a nickname Libby gave me when she was little and couldn’t say ‘M’ words and it just kind of stuck.”

“I like Lala, it think it fits you. Libby said you got here not too long ago but it looks like you just got into town.”

He motioned over to the bags in the opposite booth questioningly.

“Yea, our flight landed at 4am. We just came here so I could have a chance to look up hotels for us to stay at for a few nights while I get my footing.”

Niall looked up and Marla could see the hesitance in his eyes.

“Why don’t you come to my place for the day? I’ve got a bunch of movies Libby would like and we can find you a place to stay.”

Marla wanted to say no, she’d always been able to take care of herself and she didn’t want to rely on this near stranger.

“No, Niall it’s fine. I don’t want to intrude. Lib and I can just go to the park or something.”

Niall’s knuckle tapped against the glass window.

“You really think the park would be a good idea?”

Marla hadn’t realized it had started raining but there is no way she could walk any distance in it. And now it was Harry’s turn to speak up.

“Common Lala it’ll be fun! I was already planning on crashing at Niall’s for the morning. It’ll be a party!” He laughed a little at his own joke before he continued.  “But really, they are gonna kick us out of here soon. The breakfast rush will be coming and they’ll need all the booths.”

Marla was hesitant but she didn’t have too many options at this point. Niall’s smile was pulling her in and seeing Libby still curled up in Harry’s lap was all it took to convince her.

“Fine” she huffed out. “Lead the way to your car.”

Niall’s eyes got a little brighter and Harry smiled more too. He picked up Libby and half of the luggage before heading toward the door. Niall threw a large wad of money on the table and grabbed the rest of the bags in one hand. His other arm loosely slung over Marla’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’re a fun bunch. It’s gonna be a good day!”

Marla rolled her eyes but Niall didn’t miss the small smile that was playing on her lips and that’s all he wanted to see.

—-

The two girls were curled up in the back of Niall’s large range rover, Libby still sleeping soundly, when Niall pulled out of the diner and drove toward his house. It was a longer drive than Marla would have expected (Who would drive an hour to go to that shitty diner?). Toward the end of the trip Libby woke up and started looking around the car. She smiled when she saw Harry in the passenger’s seat but her face scrunched in confusion when she saw Niall. Her eyes turned back to Marla when she spoke.

“Why’s he driving?”

Marla looked down at the girl and pushed her hair back from her eyes. It was in disaster mode from her nap.

“Because it’s his car, silly.”

“No but why’s he sitting there? He should be sitting over there to drive.” She kicked her little feet toward Harry and Marla finally understood the problem. Harry turned around slightly to talk to her.

“Our cars are different over here Lib, we drive on the other side of the road too.”

Libby rushed to look out the window and her hands flew in the air.

“Oh goodness, everything’s so weird here!” She relaxed back into Marla’s side. When they stopped at the next red light Niall looked back to see the pair.

“So Libby, what kinds of movies to you like?” She perked up at the idea of a movie.

“Oh do I get to watch a movie when I get to your house? I love movies! My favorite are the princess movies but I like other cartoons too.”

Niall averted his eyes back to the road as he was driving but kept glancing at the little girl through the rearview mirror.

“I have lots of cartoons because my nephew likes them but I don’t think I have any princesses.”

“Mate, you’ve got Enchanted. She might like that.” Before the words had completely left Harry’s mouth Libby was clapping her hands together.

“I just love Enchanted! Could we watch it? Please please please!”

Marla was immune to the puppy dog eyes at this point but she glanced up and saw Harry and Niall’s heart melting for the little girl.

“Of course Lib, I’ll put in Enchanted right when we get back to my house. Won’t be long now.”

Now that Libby was awake the radio got turned up and all four of them were singing along. It wasn’t long until Niall was punching a code into a large gate and they were driving up to his house. It was quite a ways off the road but when it finally came into view she was shocked. Marla knew he must have money from his time in One Direction but she would have never expected the house that sat in front of her. It was the largest house she had ever seen. She was nervous as they started to walk up because a house like this is bound to have nice things that Libby could break and there was no way Marla could afford to replace any of it. But she was relieved when Niall opened the front door. There were tennis shoes thrown around the entrance and the only breakable things in the living room were a few vases. It felt like a home that was lived and loved in.

The moment they stepped through the door Libby grabbed Niall’s hand and pulled him to the shelf of movies asking him to help her find Enchanted. He put it in the player while Libby plopped down on the middle of the couch making herself comfortable. Niall and Harry helped bring in luggage and they all eventually made their way to the couch. Marla picked up Libby and sat down with her in her lap and the boys took both ends of the couch. Before they could even get comfortable Libby was turned around and whispering in Marla’s ear. Granted, whispering was not something Libby had mastered in her six years so the whole room could hear everything she said.

“Lala do you think Harry will let me sit with him for the movie?” Marla looked at Harry through her peripheral to see him trying to stifle his laugher.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Libby started shaking her head furiously.

“No no no, I can’t just ask him. You’re cwazy!” Libby sat back down right next to Marla and trained her eyes back on the television. No more than five minutes later there was a small scare on the movie and Harry jumped high in the air and grabbed Libby to his side. She looked up at him questioningly.

“It scared me! I just wanted a friend to sit with me, is this okay?” Libby was trying to play it cool but everyone could see the excitement in her eyes.

“That wasn’t even scary Harry! But I guess I can sit with you.” All of the adults, if you could even call them that, were trying not to laugh at the little girl. And if she used that moment to cuddle in closer to Harry, no one mentioned it.

—-

Marla hadn’t even noticed that she had fallen asleep until she heard the same ten seconds of song playing over and over again. She opened her eyes to see the movie back on the menu screen and felt her head on Niall’s shoulder. She quickly jumped up so it would go unnoticed but he still slept soundly. Marla looked over to see Libby and Harry sleeping too.

She ventured into the kitchen and pulled out her phone as she sat at the small table. They needed to find a place to stay. Hopefully she could find and inexpensive hotel for a few days while she looked for a job and a more permanent home. Not long after she got situated she heard quiet whispers approaching her. Niall and Harry were both trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes as they sat down at the table too. Harry reassured her that Libby was still asleep on the couch and Marla focused her attention back on her phone.

“So are you looking at flats?” Marla looked into Niall’s eyes as he spoke, attempting to memorize all the colors swirling around. The past few hours with Niall had been wonderful and Marla loved spending time with him. But she knew this wasn’t going to last. She couldn’t expect to be swept off her feet and have some fairytale life. So she took the time she had to catalog all the details about him because she didn’t want to forget any of it.

“Right now I’m looking at hotels, flats come later.” The boys nodded as Marla sat her phone down on the table, leaning back in her chair. Their conversation ran smoothly. Harry was still half asleep so he didn’t contribute much but Marla didn’t mind. She was focused on watching the way Niall’s mouth would slowly curl into a smile or the way he would pick at his nails when he was a little nervous.

Niall was launched into a long story about one of his bandmates, Louis, when Marla heard little feet approaching the kitchen. Libby crawled up in Marla’s lap and tried her best to keep her sleepy eyes open. Niall’s rambling had continued and Libby finally started listening to his words.

“…you should have seen the shit he tried to pull back then. It was-“ Niall stopped talking when he saw Libby put her hand out. He asked if Libby needed anything but Marla just shook her head and focused her attention on the girl.

“That doesn’t work with him Libby, only me.” Libby finally completely opened her eyes as she looked up at Marla.

“But he said a bad word. He’s got to put a dollar in the swear jar.” Marla just grabbed the girl’s still outstretched hand and put it in her lap. Harry chuckled before he started speaking.

“Niall’ll go broke if there’s a swear jar around.” Niall must have kicked him under the table because there was a little yelp and both of Harry’s feet were up in his chair. Before Marla could stop him Niall was pulling out his wallet and looking over at Libby.

“I don’t have a dollar but I might have something else for you.” The little girl ran over to Niall and peered in his wallet as he pulled out a one pound note. Her eyes widened as she looked at the bill.

“Whoa what’s that?” Harry was the first to speak up.

“That’s called a pound. Our money is different over here too.” Libby kept flipping the bill over in her hands and looked up at Harry.

“But it doesn’t feel like a pound. Pounds are heavier!” Niall ruffled her hair a bit.

“No it doesn’t weigh a pound that’s just what we call it. Or you can say it’s a quid.” Libby stood there trying to sound out the word but was distracted by the face on the bill.

“Who’s this?” Niall grabbed the bill from her small hands and pointed at the face.

“That’s the Queen.” The moment the word left his mouth Libby launched into a list of questions.

“You have a Queen? What about a prince or princess? Do they have a castle? Is there a scary dragon?” Harry laughed at her fondly.

“Yep Lib, we have all of that. Except there’s no scary dragon.” Libby just clapped her hands and looked back at Marla.

“This is the best place ever!”

Things settled down again shortly. Niall had found a coloring book and crayons for Libby and she was stationed at the other end of the table. Her eyes were on the paper but her ears were still trained to what the others were saying.  Without fail, every ten minutes her little hand would shoot up and she’d say “Another Queen for the swear jar.” She’d opted to call them Queen’s because quid was too difficult to say and pound was just weird (They aren’t actually a pound Lala, I can’t call them that!). If anyone else had been in the room Marla would have stopped the swear jar madness but Niall and Harry looked so happy every time they pulled out their wallets and threw a pound in Libby’s direction. So why would Marla deprive them of that happiness?

—-

Harry had left an hour earlier but he made sure to give Libby a big hug and tell her that they’d see each other again soon. This is what scared Marla. Libby had already lost so many people and if Harry was lying about seeing her again it would crush her. Too many people were already gone from their lives and Marla didn’t want to give anyone else the chance to leave.

The afternoon sun shined  brightly through the curtains while Libby played on the floor with a mess of Legos that she had found in the closet. The form of a spaceship was coming along nicely but it was discarded when Libby’s stomach growled loudly.

“Lala, is it lunchtime yet? I’m hungry!”

Marla looked up from her phone to see Libby smiling up at her sweetly.

“Yeah baby, it’s lunchtime.”

Niall’s eyes left the football match on the TV and trailed over to Marla.

“We can order something in. What do you guys like?”

“Let’s cook!” Niall looked skeptically at the little girl jumping around his living room, Lego pieces falling from her hands. “Come on Marla we haven’t cooked together in soooooo long!”

“We made dinner together two nights ago.”

“But I like cooking every day!”

“Alright, come here.” Marla opened her arms and the cheering child jumped in them immediately. Her eyes got a little brighter when she looks over at Niall.

“Niall, what do you like? Me and Lala love cooking so we’ll make something really yummy!” Niall had stayed silent as the scene had unfolded but he finally found his voice.

“I can’t ask you guys to make lunch.” Marla had been paying most of her attention on Libby that she barely heard Niall speak.

“Honestly Niall, you’ve let us crash here today. The least we can do is make lunch.”

“I-“ Niall’s protests were stopped by Libby clapping her hands excitedly.

“We’re gonna cook, we’re gonna cook!” Niall sighed, resigned to the fact that there was not a chance in the world he could say no to the little girl.

“Ok, I don’t know what food is in there but if you wanna cook, have at it.” Libby jumped up in the air and flung her little arms around Niall’s neck.

As the girls headed toward the kitchen Niall walked down the opposite hall. He couldn’t just stand and watch them in the kitchen because it was bound to be the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Niall didn’t plan for these feelings to develop. When he saw the two in the diner he just wanted to help. He had the time and money, the girls were clearly upset, he just likes making people happy. As the hours ticked on though, they were making him just as happy.

Since One Direction had died down Harry was still jumping from city to city but the rest of the guys had settled down with families. Zayn even has a kid running around all the time. Niall may boast at loving the single life but deep down this is all he ever wanted. He wanted to come home to a house full of people. Having a beautiful woman dancing around the kitchen and little kids making a mess in every room. And that is exactly why he had to leave the room because this wasn’t his life. It was one great day and seeing the pair chatting happily in the kitchen would have made his heart ache to make this a reality.

Once Niall stepped out of the shower he could smell the food that was being cooked and he fooled around on his phone for a bit before he headed back to the kitchen. He had expected something simple, maybe a cheese toasty, but he never guessed they would make the feast Marla was carrying to the table. He stopped in the doorway gazing at the scene in front of him. Marla was finishing everything up while Libby was sitting on the edge of the counter with her little legs swinging back and forth. A quiet ‘holy shit’ left his lips as he started walking toward Marla. He faintly heard Libby saying something about the swear jar so he handed over his entire wallet and kept his gaze on the beautiful woman in front of him.

She hadn’t even noticed he had walked in until he was standing right next to her.

“Marla, you didn’t need to do all of this.” She waved her hand as if to say it was nothing as she placed the bowl of corn next to the chicken and potatoes.

“Libby didn’t eat any of her breakfast so she was really hungry. I hope you don’t mind we made all of this.”

“Mind? I haven’t eaten this well in weeks!” He chuckled nervously (since when was he this nervous around anyone?) and his hand went up to grip the back of his neck.

Most of lunch was spent with Libby asking questions about London. She wanted to know all the fun places to visit and Niall promised to take her to a few. The girls were pushed out of the kitchen when the eating was done because Niall insisted on doing the dishes since they had cooked.

When he got back to the living room Marla was at one end of the couch looking through her phone intently with Libby’s head in her lap fast asleep. Niall lifted the little girl’s legs so he could sit at the other end of the couch and her feet came to rest in his lap. Marla looked up and smiled once he was situated.

“So have you found any places you like?” Marla huffed and sat her phone down.

“Like? No not really but I have found a few hotels we can stay at while I save up.” Niall put his hand out for Marla to pass her phone over.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.” His eyes scanned the screen and he started to frown. “Marla you can’t stay at any of these places.”

“Why not?”

“This one,” he pointed at one of the names, “is just full of drug dealers. And all of the other ones are in the worst parts of town. It wouldn’t be safe for you guys.”

Marla threw her hands up in defeat. “What do you want me to do? This is all I can afford. I’m going to start looking for a job tomorrow but I don’t know when I’ll actually find something.” Her eyes were now cast down to the sleeping girl in her lap. Marla had always been independent so this entire situation was not easy for her.

“Stay here.” Niall spoke with a conviction he didn’t even know he possessed because this wasn’t something he had planned out. Marla’s head whipped up and she looked him dead in the eyes to see if she could read his intentions.

“Niall I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve already helped so much today and I couldn’t intrude on your house like that.”

“You wouldn’t have to.” Niall stood up and started walking toward the kitchen motioning for Marla to follow him. Once they were on the back deck Niall pointed to a small house on his property a decent distance from the deck. She just stared at it as he started talking.

“It’s a guest house. Don’t know why I had it built, my family and friends have always just stayed in the house with me. It’s small but plenty of space for you and Libby. You could stay there while you find a job and save up for a safe place to rent.”

Marla was shocked and had no idea how to respond. She hesitantly sat in one of the small chairs next to her and tried to soak everything in, silently thinking everything through. There was no real reason to say no unless she was going to let her pride get in the way. The place is clearly nicer than anything she could afford and it would save her some money so they could get their own place sooner. Niall was still looking out toward the house, trying not to rush her into a decision. He heard her sigh loudly and he turned around to see her head in her hands. Niall slowly walked over and pulled out the chair next to her.

“I just want to help and I don’t know what else to do. I know you won’t take any money. But I can’t watch you guys walk out my door knowing that you are going to one of those horrible places to live. I just want you to be safe and you won’t be there.”

Marla deliberated for a few more minutes trying to make her decision. If those places were as horrible as Niall said there was no way she could take Libby there. She finally looked up at the house again and over to Niall. “Ok,” it was barely above a whisper but Niall heard it and his face broke out into a wide smile. “But I’m going to pay you rent.”

“Marla I don’t want your money.”

“I’ve got to pay you someone. I can’t just freeload.” Niall rubbed his thumb across the back of her palm again, just like he had done in the early hours of the morning, willing her to relax.

“You make a meal like that every few days,” Niall starts as he points back to the kitchen, “and that will be more than enough payment.” Marla smiled and agreed before she got up to go back to the living room. Niall followed and opened the door for her. Before she walked through she stopped to wrap her arms around his waist and whisper a ‘thank you’ into his chest.

—-

When Libby heard the news she was ecstatic. Niall had helped carry all the luggage to the back house but he left them alone to set up things as they wanted. He was sure Marla would want some time to herself, still needed to process everything. But before he walked away he handed Marla two sets of keys. One for the guest house and one for his own, saying that the girls were welcome in the main house whenever they wanted.

Libby had claimed the room with bright green walls (because it will look good with all my pink things!) and that left Marla in the room with light blue paint.  As she drifted to sleep she tried to imagine the walls were swirling with the colors she had memorized from Niall’s eyes. Marla had the most peaceful night of sleep, she hadn’t slept that well since the accident. This place felt like home. Not because the four walls or the location but because she could hear the soft snores of her baby sister in the other room and the knowledge that there was a man that cared about them and she might just fall for him if she let herself. 


End file.
